Process of reducing ores.



G. L. FOGLER. y PROGEBE UP REDUCING DRES.

APPLIUATION FILED 1120.7, 190':A

Patented Dec. 29, 1908.-

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WITN ESSES.

GEORGE LUTHER FOGLER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSlGNUIt T() FOGLE HEAT ANI) REDUCTION COMPANY, OF TAOOMA, WASHINGTON, A OOltIOitA'llON OF WASHINGTON.

PROCESS OF REDUCING CRES.

No. 908,23 l.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Deov 29, 1908.

Application filed December 7, 1907. Serial No. 405,610.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. FooLEn, a resident of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful 'Improvement in Processes of Reducing Orcs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

This invention relates to a process of reducing iron ore.

The object of the invention is to reduce ore of any character, even low grade ore or containing a large percentage of impurities, quickly and economically and so as to leave the iron practically p ure orY with only a small p crcentage of impurities.

r[he process consists, essentially, in first reducing all or the bulk of the iron ore to a silicate of iron, and'then separating the iron from the silica by treating the silicate with suitable fluxes which fuse the silica, forming a vitreous slag, and permit the iron to drop type, except that itis not o down or separate therefrom.

f In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a view partly in' elevation and partly in section showing a stack furnace suitable for carryin out my process in its entirety, but prefera ly employed merely to reduce the ore to a silicate; and Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through a furnace suitable for reducing the silicate.

In carrying out m invention I may make use of any suita le smelting furnace, such for instance as the furnace l shown in Fig. 1, which is of the general blast furnace erated under a blast. The ore together wit -the necessary fluxes, including lime or limestone, andalso a certain amount of coke to keep the burden of the furnace open or porous, is fed into the furnace througlh the feeding hopper 2 in the usual Way. he fuel or heating agent is a gas Which ma be generated 1n any suitable way and w ich is first superheated -furnace chamber.

in a heater 3 and thence conducted by pi e 4 to the twyers or burner 5 projecting into t e A pipe 6 supplies the gas for operating the heater 3. The twyers 5 are open to the atmosphere at their outer ends around the gas ipe 4 so that the sphoni action of t e gas draws in a sup l 6 which, however, is vinsuicient to e ct com lete combustion of the gas Vand is o're'gulated as to -produce the greatest increase in the temperature without. entirely vby the carry on a continuous process consuming the gas cnmwairing the value of the lattcr in reducwlgfre ore. The gases under the conditions 0! acreased pressure due to the superheallll` thereof and an insuliicicnt air supply 5r complete combustion, pass` into and through the reductionI zone in the furnace and expand and flo'w rapidly upi irdly, this being due to the greater por ,ity of the upper portion of the charge an'r 'because of a partial vacuum which is maintained at the u per or exhaust end nf the furnace througi pipe 8 connected to down-comer 9 leading `to the collector 10. in which a suction or vacuum is maintained by fan or blower 11;

On account of maintaining a suction in the furnace the ases are caused to rapidly travel through he same and the OO2 and H2O which are produced in the combustion zone are quickly removed from the reduc tion zone. This overcomes one difficulty in -the ordinary operation of blast furnaces due to the factthat the action of the fluxes and of the reducing agents is limited, due to -the resence of' OO2 and H2O Whichare formed 1n the combustionl zone and which cannot escape or only escape slowly, -due to the high pressure existing inl the furnace on account of the blast, and at the temperature existing in the furnace the iron is oxidized OO, and H2O. By causin the products of combustion to pass quic y away from the reduction zone, by means of the suction, this difliculty is overcome, thusgiving the iiuxes 4a good opportunity to act upon the ore.

The fusing action of the fuel and` heat in this furnace first reduces the ore to a silicate, or at least largel to a silicate with possibly small amounts o oxid of iron in connection therewith. The amount of silicate 'that is formed depends upon the character of ore. Low grade ores which carry considerable silica have practically all the, iron reduced to a silicate. As all ores have' a considerable, quantity of silica, a considerable proportion of silicate of iron is formed, the remainder of the iron generally being in practically a Eure state held in suspension in the silicate.

he reduction ma be entirely completed in the one furnace, y o erating according to the discontinuous met od, that is, stopping the supply of ore and fluxes for a time WhiIe completing the reduction. But I prefer to in the stack l and consequently reduce the ore therein merely to the silicate as described, the se aration of the iron from the silicate being ef cctcd in the second furnace,1 such as shown at 12, to which the product from the furnace 1 is tapped from time to time, or it may be conveyed thereto in any other way, and even allowed to cool and set before being put into the second furnace. The entire roduct of the stack 1 is conveyed to the urnace 12, that is, no slag is tapped off from the furnace 1. The furnace 12 may be of any suitable construction, and is shown as an ordinary open hearth reducing furnace. In it the mass which is practically a silicate, is heated in conjunction with suitable agents to fuse the silica and reduce thc metal. These agents preferably are introduced in the form of borax or other acid forming .sodium or potassium compounds, and baux ite or kaolm in some form, such as feldspar or other material containing aluminum. 'lhere is also added a small quantity of carbon containing substance, preferably a substance in which the carbon is in a practically ure state, such as graphite, coal tar or the ike. The heat may be supplied in any suitable way, such as common in open hearth furnaces` The bottom 14 of the furnace is basic, such as lime, and the raphite or other carbon bearing substance 1s thrown onto the same and the silicate introduced on top of the graphite, so that in the action of the furnace the boiling of the metal lifts the carbon, and greatly expands and lightens the mass. Preferably also the crown 15 and gas ports 16 are lined with carbonaceous matter, such as gra hite brick, so that the gas is re-carbonize and as it licks the top of the boiling metal acts as a reducing agent. The result is that the basic silicate coming from the furnace l is neutralized by the acid forming agents, borax or sodium or potassium compounds, the silica is fiuxed and quickly fused thereby, carrying with it the sulfur, phosphorous and other impurities, While the 4boiling of the mass frees the iron which settles to the bottom while the fused silica floats on top in a highly vitrified form, practically glass. The furnace is worked in the usual Wa and the several ingredients or fluxes are introduced in the necessary proportions, depending upon the qualityof the product coming from the furnace 1. The neutralization of the basic silicate and the ra. id fusin of the silica causes the iron to sett e to the ottom in practically a 'pure state, While the slag, practically in the form of glass, Heats on top, the elementsse `arating by gravit The char e Will be raWn or tapped o in the usua Way'.`

By the foregoing method the ore is not onlyvery quickly reduced but also economically7 and the impurities are all substantially carried away in the slag. This method is applicable to any grade of iron ore, even the very low grades containing a very large excess of silica and which have heretofore not been economical to reduce. Cinder from Bessemer converters, open hearth furnaces and slags which are largely silicates can be reduced in the second furnace by the method described.

What I claim is:

1. The process of reducing iron ore containing silica, consisting in transforming the saine by means of heat into a silicate of iron, and then separating said silicate into iron and vitreous slag.

2. rl`he process of reducing iron ore containing silica, consisting in transforming the same by means of heat into a silicate of iron, conveying the product to a second furnace and there further heating the same and separating the silicate into iron and vitreous slag.

3. The process of reducing iron ore containing silica, consisting in transforming the same by means of heat into a silicate of iron, and then treating the same in the resence of heat with iiuxes for the silica an a small portion of graphite.

4. The process of reducing iron ore containing sihca," consisting in fusing the same to form silicate of iron, such fusing being carried on under suction, and then treating said silicate with glass fluxes and reducin agents to separate the same into iron and vitreous slag.

5.- The process of reducing iron ore containing silica, consisting in heating the same in one furnace and under suction and reducing` the same to a silicate of iron., conveying the product Vto a second furnace and there treatingr the same with glass fluxes and graphitic carbon and separating the silicate into iron and vitreous slag.

6. The process of separating silicate of iron, consisting in heating the same 111 a furnace having a basic bottom covered with graphite, and with iiuxes for silica.

7. The process of separating silicate of iron, consisting in treating the same in a basic furnace with heating gases containing carbon and with fluxes for silica, and recarbonizing the heating gases.

In testimony whereof, I, the said GEORGE L. Fouten, have hereunto se't my hand.

GEORGE LUTHER FOGLER.

Witnesses F. W. WINTER, ROBERT C. ToTTEN. 

